Opinion The buck stops with the nation
When Edmund Burke wrote his Reflections on the Revolution in France defending the ancient regime,Tom Paine remarked,He pities the plumage but forgets the dying bird.
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When Edmund Burke wrote his Reflections on the Revolution in France defending the ancient regime,Tom Paine remarked,He pities the plumage but forgets the dying bird. I thought of this when I saw that the dadas in West Bengal objected to Home Minister P Chidambaram saying the buck should stop at the Chief Ministers desk. Being anti-American,the CPM could not abide the word buck. The dead bodies and the breakdown in law and order in their state does not matter,of course. All that matters is that the Home Minister used an Americanism. If he had used a text of Lenin,that could have been understood.
The Home Minister has now shown that he understands the true meaning of what he was saying. He admits responsibility for what happened in Dantewada. But while he is being honest,he should allow a deeper analysis of the problem before he takes precipitate action. Chidambaram has been doing a fantastic job ever since he took over from Shivraj Patil in those dark days after 26/11. He has put in its place a new framework for counter-terrorism.
Whatever the failures in Mumbai during those days,the nation is unanimous as to whom the enemy is and what needs to be done. But in the case of the Naxals,what India faces is an enemy within. Whats more,the political system is disunited on the need to fight the menace. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has already shown that the enemy of its enemy is its mate. Jharkhand has a Chief Minister who is dealing with the Naxalites on his own account. The Left has many in its ranks locally and nationally who have a sneaking sympathy for the Naxalites since their youthful dreams of a violent revolution are being played out.
It is significant that the BJP,while criticising Chidambaram,has come to his support as it has a sense of national priorities. The UPA,alas,is full of parties which neither care about the nation nor will they stand up for the Congress except when they want patronage. The contradictions of coalition politics which India has avoided facing up to for 20 years are now coming home to roost. The federal arrangements were originally designed with the hope that Congress will rule at the Centre and in all the states. Even when that was true,governance at state level in the BIMARU states was allowed to deteriorate. With Congress having lost its dominance,we have a weak coalition at the Centre and appalling governance in the states. In the old days one could hope the Congress will sort out any large mistakes at the state level. Now that is no longer possible.
Thus it is that police forces at state level have been undermined for decades now. Political interference by each new government has become blatant. Morale is low since honesty and integrity are neither rewarded,nor welcome. We now see that the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is also not as well-trained a force as politicians assumed.
Thus it is that in a large area of the country,Naxalites have thrived. This is not a recent phenomenon but one which has ebbed and flowed. The Telangana uprisings in 1948 were the precursors of these troubles. Then 20 years later we had Naxalbari. It had its Andhra branch already present in the 1960s. Another 30 years and we are back with the same problems. But now the BIMARU states have proliferated smaller states such as Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. The many scattered tribes across these areas have not only lost their access to common property but can see mining contractors bribing their way past local politicians.
The way back will be long and arduous. It calls for strong leadership. The Congress is already showing its weakness by carrying useless partners in the UPA who do not subscribe to any common programme,not even national integrity. They are the problem,not the Home Minister.
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